The Best Metroid Games, All 13 Ranked

13. Metroid Prime: Federation Force

Federation Force certainly isn’t a bad game, it just doesn’t feel as “Metroid” as other games in the series, due in no small part to the absence of a playable Samus. This spin-off casts you as a Federation Marine in the Bermuda System, taking on Space Pirate forces and other threats. The chibi, super-deformed art style of the game was a bit of a strange fit for Metroid, and a far cry from anything else we’d seen in the series before.

The closest comparison for how Federation Force plays would be Metroid Prime Hunters, as it’s a handheld FPS, although it lacks touch controls. Up to four players can play cooperatively in the missions the campaign is split up into, and there’s plenty of bosses to battle in Metroid fashion. There’s also a competitive sports-like Blastball mode that can be played online or locally. Federation Force is a solid FPS title on 3DS, but the missions lack variation, it’s very multiplayer focused, and it just doesn’t provide that same, tense, atmospheric feel that other games in the series do.